1981
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Profile sniffers
« on: August 12, 2011, 04:41:09 PM »
A couple slipped by the system and was reported by Buddhapi today and it was promptly removed.
| Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support | ELI Legal Representation Program | |
| Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters. |
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
1982
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Masterfile trying to extort $4000 for a thumbnail image. What a scam!
« on: August 12, 2011, 11:35:53 AM »
While I can certainly sympathize with your anger and subscribe to aggressively fighting the letters, I do not subscribe to your sweeping statement of just "ignore, ignore, ignore". The problem with your advice is that IF your case did escalate, you would not look good in either a court of law or court of public opinion.
So, it isn't "just Oscar" that is saying it. And he isn't just saying it because he wants to help Masterfile make money or line his own pockets. I am saying it also as a letter recipient myself. I take great peace in knowing I did respond and explaining my situation. I was also aggressive. Whatever they can say, they cannot say I ignored the situation or them. Oftentimes, ignoring problems inflames it more
Regarding HELPI, he may have stepped on a few toes along the way but I have no reason to believe that works for any of the stock photo companies. He seems to be someone who is interested in the subject matter. So, I wouldn't be overly paranoid about it.
It is certainly possible that the stock photo company employees could be secretly posting as "normal users" but I think that would be foolhardy. If they ever got caught, it would be very embarrassing for them. Look what happened to John MacDougall when he decided to have attorney Steven Weinberg send Oscar and I a "warning letter" on his behalf. Basically, John made a fool of himself by accusing one of our participants of defaming his name because of a copy of schoolyard name-calling. The offending statements were deleted but the outcome was he became a laughing stock for being an executive of MF who everyone agreed had thin skin and seemed to have his feelings hurt.
Essentially, he admitted to reading our forums AND how someone managed to offend/upset him. Steven Weinberg, while being respectful, didn't do himself any favors publicly but sticking his nose out further by arguing it could be construed as being defamatory if we led others to believe the letter was sent out simply because of hurt feelings. I put out that disclaimer for everyone to see.
Nevertheless, the net result is people snickering to themselves over the spectacle of it all. Long story short, any employees that would secretly post here would be terribly embarrassed if found out. So I don't think that is the case here.
Matthew
So, it isn't "just Oscar" that is saying it. And he isn't just saying it because he wants to help Masterfile make money or line his own pockets. I am saying it also as a letter recipient myself. I take great peace in knowing I did respond and explaining my situation. I was also aggressive. Whatever they can say, they cannot say I ignored the situation or them. Oftentimes, ignoring problems inflames it more
Regarding HELPI, he may have stepped on a few toes along the way but I have no reason to believe that works for any of the stock photo companies. He seems to be someone who is interested in the subject matter. So, I wouldn't be overly paranoid about it.
It is certainly possible that the stock photo company employees could be secretly posting as "normal users" but I think that would be foolhardy. If they ever got caught, it would be very embarrassing for them. Look what happened to John MacDougall when he decided to have attorney Steven Weinberg send Oscar and I a "warning letter" on his behalf. Basically, John made a fool of himself by accusing one of our participants of defaming his name because of a copy of schoolyard name-calling. The offending statements were deleted but the outcome was he became a laughing stock for being an executive of MF who everyone agreed had thin skin and seemed to have his feelings hurt.
Essentially, he admitted to reading our forums AND how someone managed to offend/upset him. Steven Weinberg, while being respectful, didn't do himself any favors publicly but sticking his nose out further by arguing it could be construed as being defamatory if we led others to believe the letter was sent out simply because of hurt feelings. I put out that disclaimer for everyone to see.
Nevertheless, the net result is people snickering to themselves over the spectacle of it all. Long story short, any employees that would secretly post here would be terribly embarrassed if found out. So I don't think that is the case here.
Matthew
Katerina, thank you for your response. I hope that you are not getting paranoid about Masterfile and their threats.
Here is what I did:
Print all emails, letters, evidence of their extortions etc. and put them into a folder, then put that folder away and forget about it. Here is the strategy:
You get a letter from Masterfile --> delete images; ignore all payment requests
you get any more letters form Masterfile --> ignore
you get a letter/email from collection agency --> ignore
you get a call from collection agency --> get an answering machine and ignore
Ignore, ignore, ignore. never pay.
I have beter things to worry about than some croocks sending me some treats and responding to that crap. Masterfile sends 7000 letters per year! Remeber that. If you calculate the probablity of getting sued it will be similar to getting audited by the IRS or less.
Yes there are naive and paranoid people that pay them. That pays for their food to sit and send more letters. It also looks like their days are numbered. There have been several lawsuits lost by some of these crooks recently. They should now be more afraid to go after small people. Judges are about to start throwing this out of court. The climate is changing for this abuse.
The key is not getting paranoid and ignore, ignore and never pay. Some of the people here such as Helpi may even work for Masterfile or Getty and come here to scare people. Just ignore them. Oscar will tell you otherwise, but think about this. Most people ignore and never pay.
Ignore Masterfile. They will move on to the next paranoid victim. Just stop reading their letters and it will no longer affect you.
Ignore, ignore, ignore, never pay! LOL
1983
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Profile sniffers
« on: August 08, 2011, 10:39:36 PM »
I am not sure why it is happening but these forums are spammed very heavily with spambots or forum spammers to set up accounts and post spam advertising.
Everyone must have a legitimate email in order to post here. They also need to do a manual confirmation. Not only that, the email submitted is cross-checked by a spam-prevention service of known forum spammers.
Many of those would-be spammers cannot cross over beyond the guest because they are being stopped cold either through a ban of their IP address or email addresses.
So, there are many illegitimate guests (spam-bots) combing this forum. I have not yet blocked profile information because I assumed that some people would want to contact one another. But perhaps I need to reconsider that.
This is one of the hated tasks that I don't often talk about. Keeping the robo-spammers out is a job without the right software tools in place. So far, so good except I hate receiving about 50-70 emails a day from bogus registrations. It is very disheartening to see.
Matthew
Everyone must have a legitimate email in order to post here. They also need to do a manual confirmation. Not only that, the email submitted is cross-checked by a spam-prevention service of known forum spammers.
Many of those would-be spammers cannot cross over beyond the guest because they are being stopped cold either through a ban of their IP address or email addresses.
So, there are many illegitimate guests (spam-bots) combing this forum. I have not yet blocked profile information because I assumed that some people would want to contact one another. But perhaps I need to reconsider that.
This is one of the hated tasks that I don't often talk about. Keeping the robo-spammers out is a job without the right software tools in place. So far, so good except I hate receiving about 50-70 emails a day from bogus registrations. It is very disheartening to see.
Matthew
1984
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Does Anybody Know of a Truly Free Clip Art Site?
« on: August 05, 2011, 06:19:52 PM »
I agree with Buddhapi. I know it will be hard for some to be self-sufficient and not depend on 3rd-party materials. It is best to star weaning off of stock photos in my opinion. Many photographers have become freakish in their attitude and I prefer just to stay out of their way altogether.
A valuable resource is http://fiverr.com where you can get a variety of services of $5.00 including some basic customized graphics! It won't be overly sophisticated but what do you expect for $5.00?
Matthew
A valuable resource is http://fiverr.com where you can get a variety of services of $5.00 including some basic customized graphics! It won't be overly sophisticated but what do you expect for $5.00?
Matthew
1985
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is is smart to contact the photographer about letters?
« on: August 05, 2011, 06:12:02 PM »
Oscar, no one could ever accuse you of being in right field that is for sure! You are most certainly on the left! :-) But I so enjoy reading your blog. Good stuff and it has attracted a large following and continues to grow.
And almost everyone, especially me, is glad you hang out with us. Without you, ELI couldn't be what it is today (to the chagrin of the major stock photo companies.)
Matthew
And almost everyone, especially me, is glad you hang out with us. Without you, ELI couldn't be what it is today (to the chagrin of the major stock photo companies.)
Matthew
This forum is not part of my firm, it is a personal endeavor with Matt. That being said, my firm has no problem with my participation and connection to it as it provides a very valuable service to small to midsize businesses and individual entrepreneurs. While we also represent many large companies many of our clients fit this description. Also, I am not responsible for the content of others' posts obviously. You should see some of the comments posted on my blog site www.courtroomstrategy.com. Sometimes they are out in left field.
1986
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Is is smart to contact the photographer about letters?
« on: August 04, 2011, 04:28:00 PM »
I deleted the personal attack post. It is hard to read every post. If there is an offending post, you can send me a private message.
Please chill out everyone. Clearly there are disagreements. My best advice is if it gets too much, just disengage or make very short statements.
Please chill out everyone. Clearly there are disagreements. My best advice is if it gets too much, just disengage or make very short statements.
"please respect each other. If you do not agree, just say that you do not agree and explain why, and that's it"
Amen.
Matt, what's up with the forum policies anyway ? I thought personal attacks are to be discouraged.
1987
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Class Action Lawsuit Against Getty Possible?
« on: August 04, 2011, 04:22:39 PM »
This has been discussed on these forums many times. You should do a search on these forums for the replies.
1988
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: How to Access the Audio or Video Files Listed on the Home Page
« on: August 04, 2011, 09:07:07 AM »
You will automatically get a confirmation email that you want to subscribe. Once you approve the confirmation email, you will have access to the free content. If you did not get the confirmation email, you should check your junk or spam email folder. It might have slipped into there by mistake.
Having said that, we will probably be moving all of the content out to the main site so that people do not have to subscribe to get it. So our free content will practically be served on a silver-platter with only one-click away.
Matthew
Having said that, we will probably be moving all of the content out to the main site so that people do not have to subscribe to get it. So our free content will practically be served on a silver-platter with only one-click away.
Matthew
1989
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Alaska Stock Images Settlement Demand Letter
« on: August 04, 2011, 01:04:47 AM »
Thank you for sending your copy of your follow-up letter by IMUA Legal Advisors who apparently represents Alaska Stock Images. It is a bit tougher. I have redacted your information to preserve your anonymity. Thanks for your help.
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/alaska-stock-imua-letter.pdf
http://www.extortionletterinfo.com/alaska-stock-imua-letter.pdf
1990
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Just got my letter - I'm a fighter
« on: August 03, 2011, 03:59:03 AM »
Neither Oscar and I can get into any great depth to every thread and message that may be posted. People who want OUR opinions on the matter only need to seek our posts. I scan most messages but not every message. And we are not going to keep repeating ourselves ad nauseum just because a new person got a letter and discover this site.
If I spent all my time answering every email, forum post, or Facebook post, I would not get anything else done. Unless someone is going to pay for someone's time, people are going to have to learn to educate and fend for themselves. People who are too lazy or have no spine have can suffer, ignore, or pay. There are volunteer posters who capture the spirit of our positions. If that is not granular enough, people will have to self-educate or pay.
Exactly how much more do you expect we should do for free? GMAFB.
As I have said repeatedly, if someone can do a better job than we are working for near-free, go launch a website. I will be happy to freely publicize any reputable website related to extortion letters.
If I spent all my time answering every email, forum post, or Facebook post, I would not get anything else done. Unless someone is going to pay for someone's time, people are going to have to learn to educate and fend for themselves. People who are too lazy or have no spine have can suffer, ignore, or pay. There are volunteer posters who capture the spirit of our positions. If that is not granular enough, people will have to self-educate or pay.
Exactly how much more do you expect we should do for free? GMAFB.
As I have said repeatedly, if someone can do a better job than we are working for near-free, go launch a website. I will be happy to freely publicize any reputable website related to extortion letters.
I'm remarkably starting to come around to Matt's view. Cheer people on, collect any and all arguments (without attempting to correct any misstatements or making any fine distinctions among cases) and direct people to see a lawyer if you have an actual letter you are concerned about.
1991
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Just got my letter - I'm a fighter
« on: August 03, 2011, 03:45:18 AM »
The strikethrough was a result of your accidentally triggering the markup code within your post. I removed the offending code.
1992
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Alaska Stock Images Settlement Demand Letter
« on: August 02, 2011, 05:23:43 PM »
I think if Alaska Stock Images handles correctly with reasonable settlement amounts, they could have a winning formula with the right balance.
If I received that letter AND also a "reasonable" settlement amount, I might be tempted to cooperate. Also, I would not have such a venomous attitude that I would not buy a photo from them.
As it stands, Alaska Stock stands out so far as having the most reasonable and gentle letter. I wonder how it will pan out for them over time.
Matthew
If I received that letter AND also a "reasonable" settlement amount, I might be tempted to cooperate. Also, I would not have such a venomous attitude that I would not buy a photo from them.
As it stands, Alaska Stock stands out so far as having the most reasonable and gentle letter. I wonder how it will pan out for them over time.
Matthew
1993
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Photographer responded to my email ....
« on: August 02, 2011, 05:09:24 PM »
Everyone needs to cool down.
As much as some of us might disagree with HELPI, he really hasn't crossed any boundaries that I can see. He might be a bit provocative, I will admit but let's be civil here.
I am deleting/editing posts with the F-word. It isn't that the F-word isn't allowed. But we should not be telling people to "F-off".
Also, this website doesn't represent Oscar's law firm. Oscar lends his name to the ELI project and forums and he has the right to withdraw at any time. Having said that, we cannot let these forums devolve to name-calling and using profanity at each other. I also am not looking for a reason so Oscar can escape us. :-)
And if I slip up on the profanity (which as been known to happen I admit), I expect someone to tell me as well.
Matthew
As much as some of us might disagree with HELPI, he really hasn't crossed any boundaries that I can see. He might be a bit provocative, I will admit but let's be civil here.
I am deleting/editing posts with the F-word. It isn't that the F-word isn't allowed. But we should not be telling people to "F-off".
Also, this website doesn't represent Oscar's law firm. Oscar lends his name to the ELI project and forums and he has the right to withdraw at any time. Having said that, we cannot let these forums devolve to name-calling and using profanity at each other. I also am not looking for a reason so Oscar can escape us. :-)
And if I slip up on the profanity (which as been known to happen I admit), I expect someone to tell me as well.
Matthew
1994
Getty Images Letter Forum / Alaska Stock Images Settlement Demand Letter
« on: August 02, 2011, 04:41:51 PM »
Here is a brand new settlement demand letter from Alaska Stock Images. I have to admit their version is shorter and more "gentler" than past letters and I have chosen to NOT use the term "extortion letter" in their case.
http://extortionletterinfo.com/alaska-stock-extortion-letter.pdf
http://extortionletterinfo.com/alaska-stock-extortion-letter.pdf
1995
Getty Images Letter Forum / Re: Masterfile Lawsuits Filed
« on: August 01, 2011, 07:06:03 PM »
Regarding Getty Images not filing any cases since 2008, there were at least two big events that might have something to do with it.
1. Getty Images ceased being a public company and went private. The were bought out by a private investment group. The private management group might have had some influence on that.
2. ELI came into existence and Oscar singularly became the "de facto" lead attorney on all things related to stock photo extortion letters. Further, Oscar is not operating traditionally as most law firms do in the representation of his clients with the extortion letters. Additionally, he has the tremendous advantage of community leverage behind him. If Getty Images were to directly face-off against Oscar and Oscar managed to score even one victory, it would be devastating for Getty Images from a PR point of view and set a dangerous precedent against GI.
Without giving anything specific away, let's just say if Oscar was forced or dragged into a legal fight on behalf of one of his clients, Oscar would not be a one-man show. There is something very unpleasant going up against a lawyer who has non-traditional resources at his disposal. It is even more risky going up against an attorney who "isn't just in it for the money".
Oscar is very respectful and professional but I would hate to go against him on a matter he is truly passionate about. For Getty Images and its employees, they fight only for the money. But push comes to shove, none of them would lay their name, reputation, or money over the fight whereas their opponents would.
Right now, we can all gripe and complain about Getty Images, but they have not yet crossed the line as Righthaven has with their crazy lawsuits. You can be sure if Getty Images ever pulls the trigger and files a lawsuit against a small-time blogger, hobbyist, mom-and-pop, or some other smaller interest, this forum and its social network will light up like an exploding Christmas tree.
Matthew
1. Getty Images ceased being a public company and went private. The were bought out by a private investment group. The private management group might have had some influence on that.
2. ELI came into existence and Oscar singularly became the "de facto" lead attorney on all things related to stock photo extortion letters. Further, Oscar is not operating traditionally as most law firms do in the representation of his clients with the extortion letters. Additionally, he has the tremendous advantage of community leverage behind him. If Getty Images were to directly face-off against Oscar and Oscar managed to score even one victory, it would be devastating for Getty Images from a PR point of view and set a dangerous precedent against GI.
Without giving anything specific away, let's just say if Oscar was forced or dragged into a legal fight on behalf of one of his clients, Oscar would not be a one-man show. There is something very unpleasant going up against a lawyer who has non-traditional resources at his disposal. It is even more risky going up against an attorney who "isn't just in it for the money".
Oscar is very respectful and professional but I would hate to go against him on a matter he is truly passionate about. For Getty Images and its employees, they fight only for the money. But push comes to shove, none of them would lay their name, reputation, or money over the fight whereas their opponents would.
Right now, we can all gripe and complain about Getty Images, but they have not yet crossed the line as Righthaven has with their crazy lawsuits. You can be sure if Getty Images ever pulls the trigger and files a lawsuit against a small-time blogger, hobbyist, mom-and-pop, or some other smaller interest, this forum and its social network will light up like an exploding Christmas tree.
Matthew
Official ELI Help Options |
Get Help With Your Extortion Letter | ELI Phone Support Call | ELI Defense Letter Program |
| Show your support of the ELI website & ELI Forums through a PayPal Contribution. Thank you for supporting the ongoing fight and reporting of Extortion Settlement Demand Letters. |